Homegrown Adventures: Local Highlights
Homegrown Adventures: Local Highlights
Time riding your bike is time well spent, but make it even better by exploring interesting places! We’ve compiled a list of some of our favourite riding spots around each of our store locations in Farnham, Petersfield and Walton On Thames. From beautiful viewpoints to quiet country lanes, hopefully, this list can give you some route inspiration – there’s plenty to check out!
Farnham
Landmarks
Farnham Castle
Why not head down to Farnham Castle? Once the stomping grounds of England’s most notorious monarchs, nowadays Farnham Castle is now a popular wedding destination, and it’s not hard to see why! Surrounded by stunning greenery, the Castle backs onto Farnham Park, so you could always do a quick loop around there too if you fancy it – just be careful of the cows!
Waverley Abbey
Situated along the famous King Alfred’s Way, what remains of Waverley Abbey stands proud just 2 miles down the road from Farnham. It has a rich history stemming from its original founding by the Bishop of Winchester, and is worth stopping by for a quick rest stop if you can appreciate some prime medieval architecture – what more could you want? Fun fact: Waverley Abbey has featured as a filming location in several famous films, including none other than ‘Hot Fuzz’!
Sections To Ride
For The Roadie: Crondall Village
Crondall Village is a popular place for riding around Farnham. Aside from the picturesque medieval buildings, the village is surrounded by plenty of quiet and smooth country lanes so you can take in that clean countryside air. Whether you’re going at full blast or cruising at a social pace, it’s hard to deny the joy that comes with riding along the quiet countryside, and Crondall is the perfect place for just that.
For The Off-Road Adventurer: King Alfred's Way
Here in Farnham, we’re lucky to be home to a section of the famous King Alfred’s Way. Filled with bridleways, sandy tracks and gravel roads, it’s ideal for those looking for a change of scenery and to have some fun on chunkier tyres! Suitable for mountain bikes or drop-bar gravel bikes, take it at your own pace and admire the scenery – there are plenty of stunning viewpoints in and around Farnham to check out along the way. Head down towards Frensham and take in the great viewpoints of Great Frensham Pond and Frensham Little Pond.
Petersfield
Landmarks
Vandalian Tower
If you like mysterious towers and stunning viewpoints, the Vandalian Tower is the one for you. Constructed in the late 1700s to commemorate the British colony of Vandalia, the ruin stands just down the road from South Harting. Whilst its purpose is not all that mysterious, it does look impressive at the top of the hill, ideal for those moody photographs with dramatic skies in the background. Accessible by the South Downs Way, the panoramic views of the surrounding countryside make this spot even more worth it.
Church of St. Peter & St. Paul
As far as Churches go, this one isn’t half bad – the impressive tower stands tall above the treeline in the village of Hawkley, and features some beautiful stained glass windows. What makes it even better is the roads it’s surrounded by – quiet undulating country lanes. Plenty of elevation but nothing too steep means you can work as hard as you like, but there’s enough to take in. Most of the roads here are smooth, however, some have less than favourable conditions so it’s worth checking them out on Google Maps before setting anything in stone.
Sections To Ride
For The Roadie: South Harting
From South Harting down to Lordington, you’ll find some lovely country lanes. Around Stoughton, Walderton, Up Marden, North Marden and East Marden, some of the roads back onto Kingley Vale Nature Reserve (which is also a great place for MTB!) – there’s plenty of shrubberies to appreciate with some beautiful views. The lanes towards Up Marden are surrounded by dramatic forestry, so you can truly feel at one with nature! West Harting is also home to some picturesque lanes that are equally tranquil. Whilst these roads are great for pottering around, if you’re going a bit faster there are plenty of flowing B roads around there for you to fly along.
For The Off-Road Adventurer: Queen Elizabeth Country Park
Just south of Petersfield, the Queen Elizabeth Country Park is a popular destination for trail junkies looking to shred it on some singletrack – the Red trail can be challenging in places, great for riding on hardtails or even a gravel bike if you are that way inclined. The Blue trail also opens up the possibilities to families looking for a fun ride, so if you’re looking for somewhere fairly relaxed to take the kids and doesn’t feature anything too challenging, Queen Elizabeth Country Park could be the place for you. Just to sweeten the deal, there are plenty of beautiful viewpoints along the way for you to enjoy at your leisure!
Walton On Thames
Landmarks
Chertsey Bridge
The impressive whitestone bridge crossing the Thames connects Chertsey to lower Laleham. Constructed in the 18th century, the arched bridge has pleasant viewpoints down the river, and you can even spy on the cows grazing on Dumsey Meadow. As a bonus, there’s a pretty nice pub right next to it for some mid-ride refreshments or post-ride nutrition!
Penton Hook Lock (Thames Cycleway)
Situated along the Thames in Laleham, this feat of human engineering takes care of the flow of water-bound traffic. The Thames Cycleway runs alongside the river, and the packed gravel tracks are suitable for all kinds of bikes and rider abilities – with the river often filled with canal boats and motorboats the lock is frequently in action, so sit back and enjoy the show whilst you stop for a mid-ride snack!
Sections To Ride
For The Roadie: Chobham Common
Popular with the roadies of Walton On Thames, Staple Hill leads up to the top of Chobham Common. The long stretch of smooth, wide road has fantastic views all the way along as the vantage point looks down on the Chobham Common nature conservation site – well worth navigating up the short incline to get there. If you look closely enough, you might even see some local MTBers shredding it down there on the rough stuff!
For The Off-Road Adventurer: West End Common/Esher Common
Even in the concrete jungle, you’re never far from nature – there are plenty of gravel excursions for everyone to enjoy. In and around West End Common and Esher Common, there are heaps of dirt and gravel tracks that don’t get too boggy, even after a downpour. Surrounded by trees, there are plenty of opportunities to head off the beaten track if you fancy something a bit more challenging. If that’s not enough, Prince’s Coverts are just down the road: home to plenty more gravel tracks for you to indulge! Most of the tracks are slightly wider than single track, but it is still important to be courteous to any dog walkers and hikers that want to appreciate nature just as you do.
